My apologies for not putting one of these out in the last few days. It's been a busy week and a half, and although tonight and tomorrow will be extremely busy for me, I'm also very bored in this Pre-Calc class, so it's time to make another one.

A lot of people, if not a majority of people, that reading this thread have a driver's license. So it shouldn't be too hard for me to stress the importance of situational awareness, but for the benefit of the young kiddos out there, I'll break down what this even means.

Situational awareness is the skill to keep aware of what is going on without being focused on, or not being able to see it. The reason I brought up driving is because situational awareness is essential to being a safe driver. Mirrors are a big part of knowing who is around you, but you have to keep your eyes on the road as well. You can only afford quick glances at the mirrors and have to be thinking about the other cares in the other lanes as well: who is merging on, who is passing you. Maybe even, "That guy behind me is swerving lanes a lot and accelerating randomly, I'm going to let him pass me because he might be drunk."

Yeah, that's just as important in game as game as well as in real life. There are a few things that you should be thinking about at all times when playing, and while some of them are slightly different for the exact situation, here's a good list of things to keep in mind:

-Get out of sniper view as much as possible. It literally restricts your field of view, try and autoaim more shots that you know you can pen, and only scope it for long distance shots. Once you've fired, swipe the screen or mouse around and get a quick look on what's going on.

-Where is my team (wherever there are a majority of your teammates still alive), so that you can fall back if you're not already with them. This is most important for Lone Wolfers or tanks out on a flank or making a passive/aggressive spot.

-Check that minimap! Yes, it is there for a reason. The minimap is especially useful for when you're in a lockdown position with a threat in front of you, and you can't afford to pan the camera around.

-KNOW WHO IS SPOTTED!! Most importantly, knowing who isn't spotted on the reds, then knowing if you are spotted and if you want to, having a vague idea of who isn't spotted on your team. This skill is VITAL to have if you expect to put up good results. First of all,

you need to know who isn't spotted on the reds, and more specifically, where those tanks might be. Then, you need to know if you are spotted, or if you will be spotted when you go out from cover to take a shot. It's not as important, but it could be useful to know who isn't spotted on your team, because you might be able to ask them to go do something through chat that you can't do due to being spotted.

I need to touch on the last part a little more, otherwise I'd feel this would be incomplete. Here's a battle scenario: it's a 3v4, you're in an Object 140 with 1300 HP left. Your two teammates left are an IS-4 with 300 HP left, and a FV215b 183, who is of course at full health, and of course sniping at Castilla in the corner. Your IS-4 is above C cap, he doesn't dare poke out. You're all the way on the castle hill above A cap, and the enemy tanks are as follows: an M103 with 800 HP that is proxy spotted by your IS-4 on the other side of the mound on the hill, an E100 with 1800 HP left that was last spotted 5 seconds ago behind the M103, an Object 268 at 1500 HP that is on the spawn hill crest that was last spotted 15 seconds ago when he fired, and a Batchat with 690 HP that was last spotted 45 seconds ago at B in the middle of the map. Thankfully, the game mode is Encounter so you're not getting capped out yet. Now, what do you do? Priorities are, in my opinion, hunting that Batchat, but figuring out a way to do that in a way where you're not going to get fully clipped by him, and not getting hit by the 268, who is probably still in the same position. You know that the Batchat is thinking, I want to flank the IS-4 and maybe outspot the 183, but I can't fully clip out the Obj 140. That's situational awareness. Once you've killed the Batchat, making sure to get the first shot and not getting shot by the 268 that you know would have shot you if you had gone straight out to B, then you'd pick off the M103, run around the hill to outspot 268, and hopefully by then the 183 and IS-4 push on the E100.

If I may offer a small suggestion.. create some of your scenes with lower tier tanks. The guy who NEEDS to understand this most likely doesn't have the high tier tanks. Doesn't know anything about them. And gets a little lost in trying to figure out what a 183 is, or what the heck is a "Batchat".

Telling the story with a Kv2, a vk28, an easy8, and maybe a Su or two might help the lightbulb go off a bit sooner for some of our newest comrades.

I try to follow the wise teachings of Mr Miyagi. "Best defense, no be there."

...don't get hit... don't get hit... don't get hit... OWWW you %$#$!... don't get hit... don't get hit... don't get hit...

If I may offer a small suggestion.. create some of your scenes with lower tier tanks. The guy who NEEDS to understand this most likely doesn't have the high tier tanks. Doesn't know anything about them. And gets a little lost in trying to figure out what a 183 is, or what the heck is a "Batchat".

Telling the story with a Kv2, a vk28, an easy8, and maybe a Su or two might help the lightbulb go off a bit sooner for some of our newest comrades.